The Red Bull Tennessee Knockout (TKO) will be back in 2023 as the AMA Extreme Off-Road Grand Championship. 2023 will mark the thirteenth consecutive year of the TKO at the Trials Training Center and although it will not be a part of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship (HEWC) in 2023, it will continue to be one of the premier off-road motorcycle races in North America and likely attract many of the top international riders.
The final date in mid-August will be confirmed and entries will be open in the coming weeks.
“We had over five hundred riders competing last year and the feedback was that it was the best TKO yet,” said Eric Peronnard, the co-producer of the Tennessee Knockout. “We will continue to improve the event for the amateur participants and on the pro side, we will have the best North American riders and expect that a lot of the best international riders will be back to take on the TKO again in 2023.”
The racing format will be like past years with a Prologue on Friday to set amateur racer starting positions followed by two rounds of amateur racing on Saturday and a multi round Sunday competition for the pro riders, which will include the top thirty finishers from Saturday. The ECR eMoto electric motorcycle class that was a huge success in 2022 will be back and a few other exiting ideas are being developed.
TKO will again pre-qualify the top riders to the multi round Sunday competition. This will include top riders from major US and international off-road racing series and events. Any rider that finished in the top 30 on Sunday at the 2022 TKO, as well as riders that have qualified for a previous TKO Sunday main event, will be qualified directly into the 2023 TKO Sunday program.
The Saturday program will include two rounds of racing and will serve as the AMA Extreme Off-Road Grand Championship for Amateur riders. The overall Amateur winner will be awarded the AMA Extreme Off-Road Grand Championship number one plate. Classes will be available for A, B, C, Women Pro, Women Amateur, 45+, Youth and eMoto. The top 50 amateur finishers from the 2022 TKO will earn a spot directly into Saturday round two.
Amateur riders will also be able to earn spots directly into round two via several AMA Hard Enduro regional championship events. Riders that do not qualify via one of the AMA regional events can sign up for one of 500 open spots that will compete in a morning qualifying race that can earn a spot in the championship final on Saturday. The top 30 finishers from Saturday will be invited to Sunday’s expert program.